The Opaque – “Bow in Requiem” [EP]

Whilst everything about Los Angeles death metallers The Opaque is fairly generic, there is something likeable about their Black Dahlia-inspired rage that makes their Bow in Requiem mini-album worth a listen. Be warned though, you won’t get anything that reinvents the wheel and there are certainly better Black Dahlia Murder style bands out there but, hey, you can download it for pretty much next to nothing from their Bandcamp page so who are we to complain at generosity like that?

So, what do you get for your dollar/pound/euro then? Well, you get five tracks of fairly rough-sounding, vicious death metal. Like I said, the songs don’t reinvent the wheel, they’re fairly well played and before you know it they’ve finished. Their influences, as per their biog, are The Black Dahlia Murder and The Faceless amongst others and, as you listen to the raspy, high-pitched vocals and the thundering blasts of metal, it’s hard to dispute that the LA brutalists wear those influences proudly on their sleeves for the world to see.

I think the main problem with Bow in Requiem is the production, which is way too tinny for my liking, lacking in any of that rib-cracking beefiness which, in my opinion, should be an obligatory requirement for any death metal album to have. Still, if you listen closely to “Upon The Kraken”, you can hear the beating heart of a band who have the potential to deliver something quite potent.

Track Listing:

01. The Arrival
02. Upon The Kraken
03. Bow In Requiem
04. Design The Manna Machine
05. Deciphering The Nightmare

Run Time: 20:26
Release Date: December 9, 2012

Check out the the album ‘Bow in Requiem’